Our View: Mexico's Minute 323 water deal should pay off big for Arizona

The Colorado River provides water for seven western states and Mexico. Heavily overallocated and ravaged by years of drought, the river is also under growing strains due to climate change.
Wochit

Editorial: Mexico's Minute 323 - which conserves water in Lake Mead if Arizona and others do the same - proves that smart water planning has no borders.

Flats that once teemed with life on a thriving Colorado River estuary now lie disconnected from fresh water at a tidal channel near the boundary of Sonora and Baja California, Mexico, victim of the Southwest's reliance on its largest river.(Photo: Mark Henle/The Republic)

Without this accord, called Minute 323, there would be less certainty about water planning in Arizona, which is ongoing and essential in this desert state.

Mexico won't save unless we agree

Minute 323 is built on a shared goal of boosting the reservoir levels in Lake Mead to prevent shortages.

Mexico will continue its pledge to take reductions in its allotment of Colorado River water if a water shortage is declared on the river – that’s something U.S. states are required to do, with Arizona and Nevada first in line to lose water.

But there is much more here than just preserving an existing promise along with existing conservation and environmental programs that were due to expire without this accord.

Minute 323 now provides a powerful incentive for Arizona, California and Nevada to finish a much-needed Drought Contingency Plan for the region.

It establishes a Binational Water Scarcity Contingency Plan, in which Mexico agrees to join U.S. states in temporarily taking less water from Lake Mead to prevent the declaration of a shortage. This should make it easier for Arizona, California and Nevada to finalize their own Drought Contingency Plan.

Why?

Because that commitment from Mexico to help keep water in the reservoir does not take effect unless these states finish their plan, says Chuck Cullom, Colorado River Programs Manager for Central Arizona Project.

What's at stake is bigger than rhetoric

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Snow-covered peaks of the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains near Rifle, Colo., have received less snow in recent years and the snow is melting sooner, reducing the Southwest's water supply. David Wallace/The Republic

Chris Landry, executive director of the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies, skis in April to a testing site near Rabbit Ears Pass in the Rocky Mountains in the Routt National Forest in Colorado after monitoring snow for depth, water concentration, dust content, temperature and other variables that affect spring snowmelt. David Wallace/The Republic

Snow researcher Chris Landry, 65, uses a saw to dig a snow pit at a testing site near Rabbit Ears Pass in the Rocky Mountains in the Routt National Forest in Colorado to monitor snow for depth, water concentration, dust content, temperature and other variables. David Wallace/The Republic

A layer of dust is clearly visible in a snow pit at a testing site near Rabbit Ears Pass in the Rocky Mountains. Dust absorbs solar radiation and causes the snow to melt more quickly. David Wallace/The Republic

Landry takes notes on what he found at the testing site in April. Even though the area got extra snowfall in May, he filed a report in June saying that the "May snowfalls. .. could not fully offset the poor snowpack development of the preceding winter months." David Wallace/The Republic

Dust is clearly visible in May on snow near Red Mountain Pass, in the San Juan National Forest in Colorado. Evidence is mounting that the dust, some of which is loosened by off-road vehicles and livestock, is multiplying. Jeffrey S. Deems/National Snow and Ice Data Center

Jayne Belnap, a federal soil scientist, holds up a piece of cryptobiotic soil crust, near her home in Moab, Utah, in April. Cryptobiotic soils contain living organisms such as cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses, that help keep the soil in place and from dust getting airborne. Much of the Colorado Plateau is covered in cryptobiotic soils, but it is becoming destroyed by people, livestock and vehicles, resulting in an increase in the amount of dust in the Southwest. David Wallace/The Republic

Four-year-old Dallin Marsigli, bottom and his brother, Davian Marsigli, 7, both of Orem, Utah, play in a sand dune in Moab, Utah, in April. Much of the Colorado Plateau is covered in loose sand that can become airborne spreading to the snow covered peaks of the nearby Rocky Mountains in Colorado. David Wallace/The Republic (blue

Phillip Rossi, shovels irrigation ditches to clear them of debris and open up channels to irrigate their fields. His daughter, Olivia Rossi, 9, looks on at their farm outside of Phippsburg, Colo., where they raise cattle. The farm is dependent on the runoff from snow to irrigate their land for feed for their cattle. David Wallace/The Republic

Phillip Rossi, tags a calf on his farm outside of Phippsburg, Colo. Rossi said he worries that the decreasing water supply is going to make it difficult to keep his farm going. David Wallace/The Republic

Olivia Ross, sits with her father, Phillip Rossi, on an ATV as they keep an eye on their calving cows, on their farm outside of Phippsburg, Colo. Ross hopes his daughter will inherit the ranch some day but is not sure the family can keep it going. He fears that the Southwest's decreasing water supply will result in big cities using their political power to grab the water. David Wallace/The Republic

Olivia Rossi, 9, sticks her tongue out to catch a snowflake during a spring snowstorm as she and her father, Phillip Rossi, keep an eye on their calving cows, on their farm outside of Phippsburg, Colo. "I just hope we don't get to the point where we have to sell water to survive," Phillip Rossi said. David Wallace/The Republic

Kyle Clark of Grand Junction, Colo., prepares to get out of his kayak after paddling the Shoshone section of the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon outside of Glenwood Springs, Colo., in April. Clark and his wife, Callee, moved to the region a year ago. She is concerned about diverting water from the mountains to the cities. “We came from Mississippi and Alabama, where we have so much water we hate it,” the 32-year-old Calle said while waiting to shuttle her husband upstream for another run on the rapids. David Wallace/The Republic

John Harold, "The Sweet Corn King," walks toward a pivot irrigator that has a broken sprinkler head in a sweet corn field at his farm in Olathe, Colo., in April. Harold, who supplies corn to grocers across the country, warns fellow farmers that they have to adapt to the drought and use more efficient forms of watering. David Wallace/The Republic

Irrigator Ramon Villalobos checks a field for sweet corn to see if the soil is saturated enough while walking past the gated pipe irrigation system at John Harold's farm in Olathe, Colo. David Wallace/The Republic

Ranch hands Secilio Vaeiriom, left, and Monico Valareo, center, hold down a calf as it is given a shot by John Harold, right, after the calf was branded at Harold's farm and cattle ranch in Olathe, Colo. The farm is dependent on snowmelt from the mountains for irrigation to grow corn and feed for their cattle. David Wallace/The Republic

John Harold operates a control box for a pivot irrigator, background, in a sweet corn field at his farm in Olathe, Colo. He expects the government to impose efficiencies on Southwest farmers who depend on the diminishing snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains. David Wallace/The Republic

Phyllis Snyder walks along the edge of McPhee Reservoir, which is at about 50 percent capacity. Tires that used to be a breakwater for boaters in April sat on dry land at the reservoir outside of Cortez, Colo. Snyder has a cattle ranch nearby, and the water she uses to irrigate her fields to grow feed for her cattle comes from the reservoir. David Wallace/The Republic

Steve Ela works in April on repairing the filter system for his drip irrigation system at his Ela Family Farms, a 100-acre fruit orchard in Hotchkiss, Colo. The orchard is dependent on snowmelt from nearby mountains for water to irrigate the trees. David Wallace/The Republic

Steve Ela checks traps to determine what pests are in his pear trees while working on his Ela Family Farms in Hotchkiss, Colo. The orchard is dependent on snowmelt from nearby mountains for water to irrigate the trees. David Wallace/The Republic

The Rocky Mountains got more rain in May, but not enough to make up for the decreased winter snowfall. On April 22, it rained in front of the West Elk Mountains near Hotchkiss, Colo. David Wallace/The Republic

If Arizona’s allotment were cut, the national news would be devastating to our state’s image – even if local water planners were able to mitigate the immediate impact.

As a desert state, Arizona has to guard against the perception that we lack adequate water to sustain continued growth. Years of careful planning so far have prevented growth-threatening shortages.

The ongoing drought, climate change and the reality that the Colorado River is overallocated make creativity, cooperation and conservation key elements in managing water supplies and staving off a shortage.

We all share the same water future

Mexico has to be part of that planning.

Since 1944, the United States has had a treaty with Mexico regarding the Colorado River and the Rio Grande. Mexico has rights to Colorado River water and its participation in long-range water planning is essential.

Minute 323 is an “implementation agent” to that treaty, which reflects a spirit of cooperation, not conflict, in managing the river.

“Water agencies and users have already been investing in projects to leave water in Lake Mead, which is one of the reasons the lake levels have stayed above that critical 1,075 (feet of elevation) point” that triggers a declaration of a shortage, says Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute.

With Minute 323, Mexico becomes an even more active partner in averting a shortage.

Negotiated by representatives of both United States and Mexico, as well participation from U.S. states, this accord furthers cooperation and long-term planning to prevent the need for crisis management.